


The Language Lesson

by Cassunjey



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Brother Feels, Canon Related, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26137588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassunjey/pseuds/Cassunjey
Summary: Time grows short and there’s a lot for the boys still to learn before they leave for Erebor.Today's lesson - Drinking on a school night is not a good idea.
Relationships: Fíli & Kíli (Tolkien)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14
Collections: /r/FanFiction Prompt Challenge #20 / August 2020





	The Language Lesson

**Author's Note:**

> A one shot set before the events in The Hobbit. Told from Fili's point of view.
> 
> Amad - Mother  
> Adad - Father

“Come on.” Fili watched, frustrated, as his brother took his time refilling the water jug.

Kili leaned heavily against the kitchen cupboard. "Will you please just give me a chance.” He gulped the water down, spilling a little down his tunic.

“Now look what you’ve made me do.” He tutted, swiping at the stain with the heel of his hand. “That’s you rushing me when I’m not well.” He turned to fill the jug again and Fili gave up.

Balin will chew the ears clean off me if we’re late again, Fili thought, as he stomped out the door. He’s on his own.

His little brother caught up before Fili was halfway down the busy street, slinging a heavy arm around his shoulders and groaning loudly in his ear. Fili laughed at him. “At least tie your hair back.”

“You’re one to talk.” Kili released him and swiped his hair into a tie quickly. “Honestly, you can all consider yourselves very lucky I’m dressed.”

They ran together quickly up the steps leading to their tutor’s building. Fili leaned out over the carved stone railing to peer in through the window.

He swore quietly. “Ori's there already.”

“That means nothing. Ori’s always early.” Kili clutched his head as Fili hammered hard on the door. “Today's not going to be a good day, I can tell.”

Clapping Ori on the shoulder and thanking him for letting them in Fili took a seat at the table, looking around for their tutor. Kili made his way across the study to the comfortable chair beside the roaring fire and settled himself in, throwing his legs over the arm.

“Balin was called to see Thorin. He said he wouldn't be long.” Ori smiled at Fili. “Were you two out last night?”

“Can you tell?” Fili turned in his chair, trying to check his reflection in the window behind him. He thought he looked reasonably presentable, quickly he tried to smooth his hair a bit. Hoped his uncle would be too busy to drop in today.

He had a sudden thought. “Were we already late before Balin left?”

Ori smiled and shook his head. “No, you weren’t late before he left.”

He jerked his head toward Kili, already curled up and seemingly fast asleep in the armchair. “That’s a bit of a clue. Oh, and you do both smell a bit like an alehouse.”

“Do we?” Fili sniffed at his tunic. He didn't think so. He stood. “I’ll open the window. Actually, I might make some tea.”

He kicked Kili awake on his way to the little kitchen, Ori following at his heels.

“So where were you?”

“Just at the alehouse by the lower gate. We were with Gimli. It was all very last minute or we would have invited you.”

Fili filled the heavy kettle and set it on the range, checked the heat and threw some more wood in the grate. He straightened up and looked the younger dwarf in the eye. “Sorry.”

Ori shrugged. “I probably wouldn't have been allowed anyway. We're saving all our coin for, well, you know.”

“You can say it, Ori. Erebor. It's not like it’s a secret.” Kili stretched in the doorway, yawning widely. “What's Balin got in for eating? Has no-one thought to check? I'm starving.”

They all turned as the front door opened.

“And what, may I ask, are you all doing loitering in my kitchen?” Balin hung his cloak on a peg by the door and made his way to the kitchen door, shooing Kili out of the way. "Is that you making tea, Fili? Good lad. There's a few seed cakes in the pantry, bring them through too.”

He looked at Ori and Kili, waggled his eyebrows. “Well? It doesn't take three of you. Off you go.”

Fili carefully set the tray on the table in a space between the books and manuscripts. Balin placed another large tome down on the table beside him.

“Thanks, Balin.” Kili stretched up the table and lifted the biggest seed cake, settling himself comfortably back into Fili's chair with a grin as Fili glowered at him.

Passing down mugs of tea to Ori and Kili, Fili set one down for Balin, now returning to the table with another pile of books. Fili sighed and took the spare seat next to his tutor. It was looking like it would be a long day.

Kili was obviously thinking along the same lines as he eyed the increasing stack of books.

“How long are you intending to keep us today, Balin? I promised I would be at the range later. And Fee needs to practice.” He pointed his cake down the table. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, brother, you do. I don’t understand how you can be such a terrible shot with a bow. It’s not natural.”

“Maybe the problem is his teacher.” Balin smiled at Kili’s outraged face and shrugged. “That’s what I always tell your uncle.”

Another heavy book dropped on to the table, raising a cloud of dust. Fili sighed as something grey landed in his tea. He dabbed at the surface with a finger, frowning.

“Right.” Balin rubbed his hands together. “That’ll start us off I think. Black Speech today, lads. And how long I keep you depends on how well you behave. I’m looking at you, Kili. Time grows short and we'll not have our books with us when we're on the road.”

Balin nodded at Ori who had already pulled one of the heavy books to him and was looking through it with every sign of interest. “Good lad, Ori. I like to see a bit of initiative.”

Sliding the closest book towards himself Fili opened it at random, hiding a smile behind his hand at the filthy look Kili shot Ori.

He scanned down the close set runes, flipped to the front pages. A first hand account of the sacking of Gundabad. He rubbed at his nose, the dust tickling him a little, before looking up at his tutor.

“I didn't think we knew much about Black Speech?”

“Quite correct. Most of these books will only have examples, and accuracy is an issue. However, this...”

Balin rifled through a sheaf of parchment and lifted a yellowed manuscript, his face glowing with excitement. “I am very lucky to have a copy of the work by the great dwarven scholar, Thrarlun. Ah, I see you recognise the name, Ori. Thrarlun made it his life’s work to gather -”

Fili looked back down at the page in front of him, reading the description of the gathering of the clans following his great grandfather's tragic death in Moria.

His fingers skimmed over the runes as he thought of his uncle, leaving soon to raise the clans again. Then they would march in force on Erebor, take back their homeland. And he would be marching at his uncle's right hand.

Fili felt the familiar twin thrills of excitement and terror when he thought about it.

His worries had started to wake him more and more frequently in the middle of the night. Repetitive dreams where he would let his uncle down in some terrible way, usually in front of the other clans. Different dreams every night, but all with the same outcome.

No matter how hard he trained he just couldn't seem to tire himself enough and would wake most nights in a panic in the dark hours before dawn. Blinking away an image of his uncle's disappointed face as his heartbeat calmed.

It made a bit of a change from his usual dreams. Dreams where his family were in danger and he was powerless to help. But he had become accustomed to those over the years. These dreams were new and tiresome and completely believable. They kept him awake.

Unable to get back to sleep he would toss and turn through the remainder of the night. Kili was sympathetic, but Fili felt he must surely be slowly driving his little brother mad.

Ultimately Fili knew his childish concerns mattered little. For it would still be the adventure of a lifetime. His cousin Gimli was furious to be missing out.

He realised Balin had asked him a question and apologised, closing the book.

Balin smiled knowingly as he looked at the title on the cover.

When he was a little dwarfling Fili had been certain Balin could read his thoughts. Kili had gone to some lengths to prove that wasn't true, but sometimes Fili still wasn't entirely convinced.

“I’d asked if you could tell us how many forms of the language there are?”

“Lots?” Fili guessed, feeling a bit foolish and slow. "There's the higher one and the one the soldiers will use. But then there's all the different versions, dialects and such.”

That seemed to be sufficient and Balin moved on to explain that a knowledge of the base forms should allow them to understand enough.

Fili listened intently, suddenly having a little panic that his uncle would be told that they had an understanding of Black Speech and therefore he, Fili, might be called upon if the situation demanded it.

He had a nightmarish vision of standing beside Thorin, perhaps with the other dwarf lords watching, and being asked to translate something for some reason. Maybe an orc prisoner or something.

His heart began to beat a little faster, until he remembered Ori. If that exact situation happened then he would delegate, give Ori a chance to step forward and shine. That's what princes did after all, build their people up. It would be unbecoming to steal all the glory for himself.

He smiled, feeling a little better.

Realising he'd completely lost the thread of the conversation Fili looked up as, with a wagging finger that looked like it was specifically aimed at Kili, Balin warned them never to speak the orc language outside his study and never to admit to knowing it.

“We are viewed with enough suspicion by other races without inviting more," he said.

“Then why are we learning it?” Kili sounded exasperated. “And who cares how other races think about us anyway?”

Leaning forward Kili tapped the table for attention, looking seriously at Balin through his fringe as he continued. “You should know by now that the wolf does not concern himself with the opinions of the sheep, Balin.”

“There's times, laddie, when you are so like your uncle it's uncanny.”

Fili watched as Kili preened a little, all pleased with himself.

“It's not a compliment.” Balin sounded stern but Fili could see the their tutor's lips twitching as he tried to hold back a smile.

“And I'll tell you the same as I tell your uncle. Dealings with other races will go a lot easier for you if don't treat them with contempt. Be proud, yes, but not prideful. You cannot stand alone, Kili.”

Kili snorted in response and Fili pulled another book forward with a sigh as Balin settled into his lecture. It would be dark before they got away at this rate.

He would call over and visit Gimli after dinner, he decided. His young cousin had gotten himself very upset towards the end of the night.

Fili had sat and commiserated with him, tucked away from everyone in the corner of the bar, the pair of them hunched over their ales.

Balin had moved on to talking about sentence structure now. Fili dutifully nodded along, half listening.

He felt a bit guilty that he hadn't given Gimli his full attention. They had had quite a lot of ale by that stage and Fili wanted nothing more than to be standing on the table in the middle of the alehouse beside his brother, stamping his feet and joining in with the singing.

Not sitting listening to Gimli whine and drunkenly repeat that he was only a little younger than Kili and that it wasn't fair, and would Fili ask his uncle to change his mind?

Fili had been on his way back from the bar with another round of ales when Kili had leaned out precariously above the crowd and grabbed him, dragging him up on to the table by the hair. Someone had pulled the tankards from his hands and by the time Fili thought to look again Gimli was gone.

He sighed, stifled a yawn, that had been badly done. He would go and apologise. Maybe he'd let Gimli beat him at the training yard. He thought that over. Perhaps not. That would be too obvious, it would hurt his cousin's pride. But he’d let him get close perhaps. That would make Gimli feel better.

Fili glanced out the window again, wondered if he could catch Dwalin before he left the yard for the day.

He just couldn't decide between taking his swords or Adad's axe to Erebor and he wanted the warmaster's opinion. Amad would prefer he took the axe, of course. Although she said it was completely his decision.

Fili picked at a knot on the table as he thought. If he was being completely honest with himself he was leaning towards the swords. But as well as making Amad and Uncle Thorin quietly happy the axe might also look a bit better, more traditional. He really needed to make a good impression. 

“Balin.”

Fili looked up at his brother's tone.

Balin stopped mid-sentence.

“Yes, Kili? Get those boots off my table, lad. I'll not tell you again.”

Fili watched as Kili obeyed, his chair rocking back down on to all four legs with a thud.

“Balin." His brother started again. “I can’t speak for anyone else at this table, obviously, but I for one don't intend to have any in depth conversations with orcs.”

Kili waved a hand dismissively at the books as Balin tilted his head.

“So as to all this. Well, perhaps Fee or Ori might like to have a little chat with them, use the correct tenses and conjunctions and so on.”

He rocked the chair backward onto two legs, mimed drawing his bow and firing. "But I'll just shoot them I think. So for me personally, this is all a bit unnecessary.”

He ticked off on his fingers as he continued, the chair tipping further back. Fili watched, waiting for the chair to skid and deposit his brother on the floor. It wouldn't be the first time.

“I'm thinking left, right. Perhaps a few numbers. Oh, and whatever the orcish is for ‘kill those dwarves' should probably cover it. Everything else is just window dressing.”

Kili spread his hands as he finished and nodded at their tutor, smiling winningly.

Fili shook his head as Balin laughed good naturedly. Sometimes he really didn’t understand how his little brother didn’t get his ears boxed more often.

Taking another sip of his now cold tea and grimacing Fili propped up his head with his hand and stifled another yawn. His own ears would be in for a boxing if Amad had been speaking to Gloin today. She really wouldn't be at all impressed if they'd upset Gimli. He knew she was in meetings with Thorin all day, she'd told him so last night when they'd fallen in through the door.

He tried to remember what else she'd said.

His head jerked sharply and he settled his cheek back onto his palm, examined one of his fraying braids closely. He caught the scent of ale and wondered where it was coming from.

He'd have to get Kili to redo them for him later, he thought, they wouldn't have time in the morning. He held the braid to his nose, looked at it, a bit confused. It definitely smelled of ale. Why did it smell of ale? He yawned again, his jaw cracking.

And woke with a start, fingers brushing the hilt of a knife at his belt.

“Ah, there he is. My sister-son.” Thorin watched him over steepled fingers, a grinning Kili standing behind his uncle’s chair. “I trust you are well rested?”


End file.
